The Ovonic EEPROM is a novel, proprietary, high performance, non-volatile, thin film electronic memory device. In this device, information can be stored in either analog or binary form (one bit per cell) or in multi-state form (multiple bits per memory cell). The advantages of the Ovonic EEPROM include non-volatile storage of data, potential for high bit density and consequently low cost as a result of its small footprint and simple two-terminal device configuration, long reprogramming cycle life, low programming energies and high speed. The Ovonic EEPROM is capable of binary and multistate operation. There are small differences in the structure and the materials employed to enhance either the binary or multi-state performance characteristics thereof. For purposes of the instant invention, the terms "memory elements" and "control elements" will be employed synonymously.
The operation of most semiconductor devices is governed by the control of mobile charge carrier concentrations different from that generated at thermal equilibrium. Prior to the present invention, only four general methods were known by which to control and modulate the concentration of excess or free (these two terms are used interchangeably throughout this discussion) charge carriers in solid state semiconductor devices. These four known methods will be described hereinbelow following a general discussion of those fundamental mechanisms of operation of semiconductor devices which are necessary in order to appreciate the advantages of the instant invention.
By way of explanation, in a perfect semiconductor lattice with no impurities or lattice defects--an intrinsic semiconductor--no charge carriers are present at zero Kelvin since the valence band is filled with electrons and the conduction band is empty. At higher temperatures, however, electron-hole pairs generated as valence band electrons are excited thermally across the band gap to the conduction band. These thermally generated electron-hole pairs are the only charge carriers present in an intrinsic semiconductor material. Of course, since the electrons and holes are created in pairs, the conduction band electron concentration (electrons per cubic centimeter) is equal to the concentration of holes in the valence band (holes per cubic centimeter). It is well known, but worth emphasizing, that if a steady state carder concentration is to be maintained, there must be recombination of the charge carriers at the same rate that they are generated. Recombination occurs when an electron in the conduction band makes a transition to an empty state (hole) in the valence band, either directly or indirectly through the agency of a mid-gap recombination center, thus annihilating the pair.
In addition to thermally generated charge carders, it is possible to create carriers in semiconductor materials by purposely introducing certain impurities into the crystal lattice. This process is called doping and represents a common method of varying the conductivity of semiconductors. By doping, a semiconductor material can be altered so that it has a predominance of either electrons or holes, i.e., it is either n-type or p-type. When a crystal lattice is doped such that the equilibrium carder concentrations are different from the intrinsic carder concentrations, the semiconductor material is said to be "extrinsic". When impurities or lattice defects are introduced into an otherwise perfect lattice crystal, additional levels are created in the energy band structure, usually within the band gap. For instance, the introduction of phosphorous in silicon or germanium, generates an energy level very near the conduction band. This new energy level is filled with electrons at zero Kelvin, and very little thermal energy is required to excite these electrons to the conduction band. Thus, at about 50-100 Kelvin, virtually all of the electrons in the impurity level are donated to the conduction band. Semiconductor material doped with donor impurities can have a considerable concentration of electrons in the conduction band, even when the temperature is too low for the intrinsic charge carrier concentration to be appreciable.
Now that the reader can appreciate the significance of the presence of excess charge carriers for electrical conductivity, it must be noted that these carriers can also be created by optical excitation or they can be injected across a forward biased p-n junction or a Schottky barrier. Simply stated and regardless of the manner in which the excess carriers are generated, they can dominate the electrical conduction processes in a semiconductor material. It has previously been stated that there are four known methods of modulating the concentration of free charge. Those four methods are described below:
(1) In 1948, Bardeen, Brattain, and Schockley ushered in the modem era of semiconductor electronics when they demonstrated the operation of a solid state amplifier by successfully modulating the flow of injected minority charge carriers in bipolar junction transistors. The bipolar junction transistor is a three terminal device in which the flow of current through two terminals can be controlled by small changes in the current at the third terminal. This control feature provides for the amplification of small signals or for the switching of the device from an "on" state to an "off" state. In other words, the bipolar transistor is employed to modulate the injection and collection of minority charge carriers across a semiconductor junction. More particularly, and considering, for instance, in a p-n-p bipolar structure (the operation of an n-p-n bipolar structure is simply the reverse of the operation of the p-n-p structure), the negative side of the forward biased junction is the same as the negative side of the reverse biased junction. With this configuration, the injection of holes from the p-n junction into the center n region supplies the minority carriers, holes, to participate in the reverse flow of current through the n-p junction. As should now be evident, the designation of this device as "bipolar" relates to the critical importance of the action of both electrons and holes. PA1 (2) The second conventional method of controlling the concentration of free charge carriers is implemented by metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) devices. By way of background, one of the most widely employed electronic devices, particularly in digital integrated circuits, is the metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) transistor. In an MIS transistor, the concentration of charge carriers in the conduction channel is controlled by a voltage applied at a gate electrode isolated from the channel by an insulator. The resulting device may be referred to generically as an insulated-gate field effect transistor (IGFET). However, since most IGFETs are made using a metal (typically aluminum) for the gate electrode, silicon-dioxide as the insulator, and silicon as the semiconductor material, the term MOS field effect transistor or MOSFET is commonly used. PA1 (3) The third known method of controlling the concentration of free charge carriers is by the photogeneration of free charge carriers of both polarities. This photogeneration of free charge carriers takes place in such state-of-the-an devices as photovoltaic cells, photoresistors, photodetectors and electrophotographic drums. PA1 (4) The fourth known method of modulating the free charge carder concentration in semiconductor materials is by controlling the physical structure of chalcogenide phase change materials as they undergo reversible amorphous to crystalline phase transformations. A detailed explanation of this phenomena was reported in the early work on optical and electrical Ovonic phase change materials pioneered by S. R. Ovshinsky at Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. These materials and technology are discussed in detail below.
In operation, the reverse saturation current through the p-n junction of the device depends upon the rate at which minority carriers are generated in the neighborhood of the junction. It is possible to increase the reverse current through the junction by increasing the rate of electron-hole pair generation. This can be accomplished with light (as discussed below with respect to photodetectors). Electrically, a convenient hole injection device is a forward biased p-n junction in which the current is due primarily to holes injected from the p region into the n material. If the n side of the forward biased junction is the same as the n side of the reverse biased junction, the resultant p-n-p structure operates when the injection of holes from the p-n junction into the center n region supplies minority carrier holes to participate in the reverse current flow through the n-p junction of the transistor. Of course, the n-region is narrowed so that the injected holes do not recombine in the n region (the base of this p-n-p bipolar transistor) before they can diffuse to the depletion layer of the reverse-biased junction.
Finally, when used as a switch, this type of transistor is usually controlled in two conduction states, referred to as the "on" state and the "off" state. While transistors do not function as a short circuit when turned on and as an open circuit when turned off, they are able to approximate these actions. In transistor switching, the emitter junction is forward biased and the collector is reverse biased,with a reasonable amount of current flowing out of the base. If the base current is switched to zero, the collector current will be negligible. This is the "off" state. However, if the base current is positive and sufficiently large, the device is driven to the saturation regime and the transistor is in its "on" state. Therefore, in the typical switching operation, the base current swings from positive to negative, thereby driving the device from saturation to cutoff and vice versa.
In operation of a MOSFET, consider an n-type channel formed on a p-type silicon substrate. The n-type source and drain regions are formed by diffusing or implanting dopant atoms into a lightly doped p-type substrate. A thin oxide layer separates the metal gate from the silicon surface. No current flows from the drain to the source unless there is a conducting n-channel between them, since the drain-substrate-source combination includes oppositely directed p-n junctions disposed in series. When a positive voltage is applied to the gate relative to the substrate (the source in this example), positive charge carriers are deposited on the gate metal. As a result of this deposition, negative charge carriers are induced in the underlying silicon by the formation of a depletion region. In addition, a thin surface region containing mobile electrons is formed. The induced electrons form the channel of the FET and allow current to flow from the drain to the source. The effect of the gate voltage is to vary the conductance of the induced channel for low drain-to-source voltage. The MOS field effect transistor is particularly useful in digital circuits, in which it is switched from the "off" state (no conducting channel) to the "on" state. Both n-channel and p-channel MOS transistors are in very common usage.
The MOS structure can be thought of as a capacitor in which one plate is a semiconductor. If a negative voltage is applied between the metal and the semiconductor, a negative charge is effectively deposited on the metal. In response thereto, an equal net positive charge is accumulated at the surface of the semiconductor. In the case of a p-type substrate, this occurs by hole accumulation at the semiconductor-oxide interface. Since the applied negative voltage depresses the electrostatic potential of the metal relative to the semiconductor, the electron energies are raised in the metal relative to the semiconductor. The energy bands of the semiconductor bend near the interface to accommodate the accumulation of holes. Because no current passes through the MOS structure, there is no variation in the Fermi level position within the bulk of the semiconductor. The result is a bending of the semiconductor bands near the interface so that the Fermi level is closer to the valence band adjacent the interface, thereby indicating a larger hole concentration than that arising from the doping of the p-type semiconductor material.
When a positive voltage is applied from the metal to the semiconductor, the potential of the metal increases, thereby lowering the metal Fermi level relative to its equilibrium position. As a result, the oxide conduction band is again tilted. The positive voltage deposits positive charge on the metal and effectively calls for a corresponding net negative charge at the surface of the semiconductor. Such a negative charge in p-type material arises from depletion of holes from the region near the surface which leaves behind uncompensated ionized acceptors. In the depleted region, the hole concentration decreases, bending the bands down near the semiconductor surface. If the positive charge continues to increase, the bands at the semiconductor surface bend down still further. In fact, a sufficiently large voltage can cause a large electron concentration in the conduction band. The region near the semiconductor in this case has conduction properties typical of n-type material. This n-type surface layer is formed not by doping, but by "inversion" of what was originally p-type semiconductor material due to the applied voltage. This inverted layer, separated from the underlying p-type material by a depletion region, is the key to MOS transistor operation.
In general, when excess electrons or holes are created in a semiconductor material, there is a corresponding increase in the electrical conductivity of the material. In the event that the excess charge carriers are generated from optical excitation, the resulting increase in conductivity is called "photoconductivity". When photons are directed to impinge upon a semiconductor material, those photons having energies greater than the band gap energy are absorbed and electron hole pairs generated. The electron and hole created by this absorption process are excess carriers; since they are out of balance with their environment and exist in their respective bands, they contribute to the electrical conductivity of the material.
Since the present invention has significant scientific applicability to and immediate commercial impact on many different segments of the electronic and semiconductor industries, said invention is discussed hereinbelow in three different, but related sub-sections. More particularly, the relevance of the instant invention is discussed with respect to: (A) semiconductor devices per se; (B) optically operable, fast, non-volatile phase change memories; and (C) electrically erasable, directly overwritable, multilevel single-cell memories.